Three's Company
by FirstWordProblems
Summary: AU. Brittany and Santana are college roommates. Brittany gets tired of being locked out of their room so Santana can hook up with people. Santana comes up with a creative solution to the problem.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first fic. Appreciate your feedback!

Standard disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Glee universe.

This was not exactly what Brittany had envisioned when she imagined college. Sure, there were similarities; the picturesque campus, the scholarly and sometimes absent-minded professors, the diverse student population, the late nights spent studying. The level of discourse she encountered here was a breath of fresh air in comparison to what she had experienced in her previous life in small-town Ohio. There her attempts to engage those around her with observations on life and her unique and creative interpretations of the world were met with amusement at best, and more likely confusion. In fact, most of her classmates had been shocked when she had been announced valedictorian of their graduating class. They had never realized their inability to understand her points was invariably a reflection of their own provincialism.

However, though she came to college with a thirst to expand her mind and take in all the thoughts and experiences the broader world had to offer, she had not anticipated that the late nights in the school library would only be partly motivated by the desire to learn and do well in her classes. The other very real motivation behind her study sessions was the need to be anywhere other than her room.

It wasn't that she didn't get along with the roommate she had been randomly assigned by the college. She was nice enough and they got along well in the relatively small amount of time they spent in the same space. However, as Brittany discovered almost immediately, Santana had her own small-town history that she was glad to have moved away from. Indeed, she seemed to view college as the perfect opportunity to make up for all the time she had lost being closeted in high school, and more often than not Brittany would come back to the room to find their pre-arranged signal on the whiteboard on the door, letting her know that Santana had company.

Tonight was the third time this week she found herself in the undergraduate library, and though her grades had never been better, Brittany was running out of patience. She closed her calculus book and glanced at her watch with a sigh, wondering if enough time had passed to try once again to get into her room. She tried to wait for a long window, preferring to overestimate than underestimate and having to walk back to the library yet again.

"Hey Britt, trying to ruin the curve for the rest of us?" asked her friend Blaine quietly as he slid into the seat next to her at the study desk. They had met in one of their several shared classes and had quickly grown from acquaintances to friends.

She turned to him with an eye roll. "You know, at this point I think I'd actually trade a few spots on the bell curve for the freedom to go in and out of my own damn room when I want."

"Ouch, I take it this is an enforced study session? Santana kick you out again?" He frowned in sympathy.

"I'm not sure she even realizes how disruptive it is to me, you know? I don't think she's really thinking about the impact to me at all. I mean, I did agree to this signal thing at the start of the year. I guess I didn't really think that through, or maybe I just didn't realize it would be invoked quite so much…"

"Britt, you have to talk to her. Nothing's going to change if she doesn't even realize how frustrated you are. I'm sure if you bring it up with her you guys can work something out."

"I guess…I don't want to be the uncool roommate, and I guess things were tough for her in high school so I don't want to limit her college experience, but you're right, something has to change."

Blaine gave her a sympathetic smile and stood up, holding his hand out. "No time like the present. Come on, I'll walk you to your dorm."

Realizing he wasn't going to give her the chance to back out, she sighed again and took his hand to stand. She began packing up her textbooks. "Ok, you're right. But if this doesn't work out, I'm moving into your dorm room. You can spend your nights in the library."


	2. Chapter 2

The sign was gone when they got to her room. Blaine gave her a thumbs up, wished her good luck and wandered off in the direction of his own dorm room. Brittany steeled herself and walked into the room and was immediately met with a dazzling smile and friendly "Brittany! Hey!" Santana was sitting at her desk in pajamas, freshly showered . She had apparently been catching up on her literature reading since her last tryst had left, as she had an open copy of _The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks_ on the desk in front of her.

"Uh, hi Santana"

"How's it going?" Santana was clearly in a great mood herself, which was perhaps unsurprising.

"Could we talk?" Santana gave her roommate a puzzled look but nodded and turned so her chair was facing Brittany.

"So, this is kind of awkward…." This earned a raised eyebrow but Santana made no further reply.

"Ok, look, I know we agreed on this whole signal thing and giving each other space and all that at the beginning of the year…and I think it's great you can express yourself here in ways you couldn't back home, but… I…uh… ok, look, I'm tired of getting kicked out of my own room. This arrangement is clearly actually only working for one of us in practice."

Santana eyed her and she said nothing for a few moments, waiting to see if Brittany would go on.

"Well, Britt, what do you want me to do? I guess if your issue is in not being allowed in the room, you could just come in. I'd be fine with that. The signal was your idea."

Feeling her face turning pink, Brittany realized she'd heard every syllable far too clearly for there to be a chance her roommate hadn't just said what she thought she'd just said. "You mean, be in here while you…? Won't that be awkward?"

Santana shrugged and gave her a considering look. "Like I said I don't mind. Hell, you should just join in. Then we really wouldn't need a signal." She gave the blonde a wink and a grin.

"Join in? Like, with you and another girl? Are you serious?" If her face was pink before she was sure it was bright red now.

"Britt, you're gorgeous, of course I'm serious. That definitely seems like the most awesome possible solution to the problem, don't you think?" She flashed another grin at the woman in front of her.

Brittany stared at the Latina, unsure of how to respond. This hadn't been one of the ways she'd imagined the conversation going when she'd been playing the encounter out in her head repeatedly on the walk over with Blaine. Santana was gorgeous and Brittany considered herself to be comfortable with sex, but the offer was out of left field. She'd never been with a girl and being asked to join in for a casual threesome was simply not something she was prepared for.

"Um, maybe you could just try to shoot for times when I'm out anyway? I'll give you a copy of my schedule."

With that she grabbed her toiletries and fled to the shared showers, jumping on an excuse to drop the conversation for the moment. When she returned she was relieved to find Santana had retired to bed.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: It's great to see all the follows and favorites already! As noted, this is my first fic so please feel free to give me feedback on what seems to be working and what doesn't. Thanks!  
Anon69: Thanks for the note! I was also thinking it was a bit short but wanted to get it out there to see what kind of response I'd get. I'll work on bulking things up a bit going forward.**

Walking back to her dorm to take some down time after a grueling mechanics test, Brittany saw the door to her room open as a shorter blonde girl she did not recognize walked out. The woman paused, saying something Brittany didn't catch and turned in the door to face the remaining occupant of the room. As Brittany continued in her approach, Santana appeared, leaning against the door frame as the girl closed the distance between them for a lingering kiss.

Not wanting to intrude on the scene, but also expecting it to end at any moment as the girl was clearly on her way out, Brittany found herself paused in the hallway watching Santana making out with the stranger for what seemed like several minutes. Every time she thought they were about to part, they would simply take a breath and soon their lips were moving against each other again, tongues interplaying. The girl let out a low whimper and pressed against the woman in the door frame as Santana nibbled on her lower lip._ Wow, Santana must be a great kisser. Whoever that is, she looks like she's really enjoying that._

However, when Brittany saw hands start to roam she found herself clearing her throat, wondering how long she'd be standing there otherwise. The pair parted with one last lingering kiss that earned a soft moan from Santana. The shorter blonde slowly stepped away, grazing her lower lip with her teeth as she gave Santana a smoldering look.

"Mmmm, can't wait to do this again" came a husky voice, and suddenly she was walking past Brittany on her way to the elevators and out of the hall. She paused for a moment to catch the taller girl's eye, giving her a cheeky smile as she glanced between her and Santana. "All yours." With that, she was gone.

When Brittany turned back to Santana, she found her gaze fixed firmly on the retreating girl's ass, a well-pleased grin on her face. Once the girl had rounded the corner, the brunette turned to Brittany and her lascivious grin was finally replaced with something a bit more apologetic

"Hey Britt, I wasn't expecting you back in the room for a couple hours. I thought your last class wasn't until 4pm on Mondays and I didn't think you normally came back between classes. Hope that wasn't a problem?" Despite her clear enjoyment of how she'd spent the time, Santana did sound sincere.

Though the Latina hadn't actually technically agreed to anything, ever since Brittany had left a copy of her schedule on her desk after they'd had their talk, she'd been pleased to find herself having to make far fewer enforced trips to the library. It wasn't perfect, but it was a definite improvement, and she appreciated the effort Santana had been making.

"It's fine. I just had a test that left my brain a little fried so I thought I'd come back and recharge a bit. Who was that?" This question earned a curious look from Santana. Brittany had never expressed particular interest in any of the girls she'd brought back to their room before. On the other hand, Brittany had rarely seen more of them then the signal on their door indicating Santana had company as it was often the only-first hand evidence she generally had of their existence at all. The roommates were on friendly terms but didn't spend much time in each other's social circles.

"Her name's Quinn. She plays short stop on my intramural softball team I was telling you about." Santana chuckled. "Turns out softball is a great way to pick up girls. If I'd known that I wouldn't have wasted all that time cheerleading in high school," she shook her head ruefully. Brittany already knew from their earlier discussions, getting to know each other when they moved in, that Santana had chosen to cheerlead in high school exactly because she was closeted and thought it would protect her from people speculating that she was a lesbian. Though she had also admitted with a trademark grin that spending her time surrounded by hot girls in short skirts certainly hadn't hurt. "We started hanging out a few weeks ago. Actually, she was planning on coming over again on Friday around this time. Is that ok?"

Brittany did not reply for a moment. The image of Santana and Quinn pressed together in the door from a few minutes earlier was suddenly painted across her brain. It was immediate and it was, she had to admit to herself, hot. And apparently it would be repeating itself in their room in a few days. That realization itself was a bit distracting. "What? I mean, yes, that's fine."

"Great, thanks." Santana moved about the room, picking up a few papers that had been knocked off her desk and putting away an errant bra that must have been discarded over the course of the afternoon. Brittany followed the movements with her eyes, unable to stop herself from speculating how exactly the papers had been knocked off, or more precisely who had pushed who against the desk in a moment of passion, to cause them to fall off in the first place.

"So how was the test?" Santana looked back at her and caught her staring, but didn't comment.

"What?" The scene she'd walked in and her follow on imaginings had wiped all thoughts of the exam from her mind. "Oh, right. Good but exhausting. I think I prepared pretty well, but it was still a slog. I think I did well though." She moved further into their room and collapsed on her bed, her tiredness catching up with her.

"Sounds rough. Tell you what - how about we go out tonight? We can get dinner or ice cream or something and celebrate that being done with."

Brittany turned her head to face Santana from where she had flopped down. The brunette was regarding her with a warm and open expression.

"Yeah. That sounds nice." Santana rewarded her reply with another smile. "Great, I'll see you back here whenever we're both done with classes and things for the day."


End file.
